JAC Advance Access published online on November 1, 2002
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, doi:10.1093/jac/dkf239
© 2002 by The British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Original Paper
1 Interuniversity Research
Centre on Pharmacoepidemiology, Department of Pharmacology, University
of Bologna, Via Irnerio 48, I-40126 Bologna, Italy
* Corresponding author. E-mail: vaccheri{at}biocfarm.unibo.it.
Received 24 May 2002
; revised 30 July 2002
; accepted 6 September 2002
Objective: To compare antibiotic prescribing
in primary care in two European populations, one in Denmark (Funen),
the other in Italy (Ravenna). Methods: Reimbursement data (1999) were retrieved
from the Odense Pharmacoepidemiologic Database (Denmark) and the
Emilia Romagna Health Authority Database (Italy). The extent of antibiotic
use (ATC J01) was analysed as the number of defined daily doses
per 1000 inhabitants per day (DDD/1000 inhabitants/day), and as
annual prevalence of use. A qualitative analysis was carried out
according to the Drug Utilization 90% (DU90%)
approach. Results: Antibiotic consumption was 16.5 DDD/1000
inhabitants/day in Ravenna and 10.4 DDD/1000 inhabitants/day in
Funen; the annual prevalence of use was 40 and 30 subjects/100 inhabitants,
respectively. Italian children received a greater amount (four-fold
in DDDs) of antibiotics than Danish ones, whereas consumption was
only slightly higher in Italy than in Denmark in the other
age groups. In Italy, injectable antibiotics (third generation cephalosporins
or aminoglycosides) accounted for 4% of total DDDs and
11% of exposed subjects. In Funen, use of injectable antibiotics
was negligible. The bulk of prescription (90% of total
DDDs) was made up of eight (out of 38) different antibiotics
in Denmark, mainly narrow-spectrum penicillins and macrolides (1st:
phenoxymethylpenicillin), and of 18 (out of 74) antibiotics in Italy,
mainly broad-spectrum penicillins, macrolides, fluoroquinolones
and cephalosporins. Conclusions: These data show remarkable differences
in antibiotic prescribing between Italy and Denmark, and suggest
possible overuse and misuse of antibiotics in Italy.
Keywords: drug utilization, general practice, antibiotic
prescription, international comparison
Antibiotic prescribing in general practice: striking
differences between Italy (Ravenna) and Denmark (Funen)
2 Research Unit of General Practice
and Department of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Southern
Denmark, Odense, Denmark
3 Division
of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet,
WHO Collaborating Center for Drug Utilization Research and Clinical
Pharmacological Services,
Huddinge University Hospital, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  G. Lusini, F. Lapi, B. Sara, A. Vannacci, A. Mugelli, J. Kragstrup, and L. Bjerrum Antibiotic prescribing in paediatric populations: a comparison between Viareggio, Italy and Funen, Denmark Eur J Public Health, August 1, 2009; 19(4): 434 - 438. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. Benko, M. Matuz, R. Viola, P. Doro, E. Hajdu, and G. Soos Quantitative disparities in outpatient antibiotic exposure in a Hungarian county J. Antimicrob. Chemother., December 1, 2008; 62(6): 1448 - 1450. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. Dong, H. Yan, and D. Wang Antibiotic prescribing patterns in village health clinics across 10 provinces of Western China J. Antimicrob. Chemother., August 1, 2008; 62(2): 410 - 415. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Ding, Y. Yang, Q. Lu, Y. Wang, Y. Chen, L. Deng, A. Wang, Q. Deng, H. Zhang, C. Wang, et al. Five-year Surveillance of Antimicrobial use in Chinese Pediatric Intensive Care Units J Trop Pediatr, August 1, 2008; 54(4): 238 - 242. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
F. Marra, D. M. Patrick, R. White, H. Ng, W. R. Bowie, and J. M. Hutchinson Effect of formulary policy decisions on antimicrobial drug utilization in British Columbia J. Antimicrob. Chemother., January 1, 2005; 55(1): 95 - 101. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Resi, M. Milandri, M. L. Moro, and the Emilia Romagna Study Group on the Use of Antib Antibiotic prescriptions in children J. Antimicrob. Chemother., August 1, 2003; 52(2): 282 - 286. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|